Seedlings Update, April 6, 2011

What a crazy and weird spring, if you can call it that, we are having this year. I want some of that Global Warming back and pronto. Some of my seedling flowers are blooming (both Snapdragons and Zinnia), one variety of tomato (Mountain Magic from Johnny’s Seeds) is ready to be planted into a bigger pot or even ground and right now we are having small snow blizzard going on! Looks like I will have to bring another table into our sunroom because lot of the plants will have to be transferred into larger container.

Snapdragons only basket.

Check the 3 nipped tips of snapdragons (pointed long leaves)

I have already done two hanging baskets – one with Snapdragon Lampion seedlings only and one with 4 Lobelias and 3 Snapdragons. Snapdragons are actually cuttings as I saved the snipped tops, dipped them in growing hormone powder and chuck them in the basket. They are doing fantastic and look just like ordinary seedlings.

Nasturtium, Lobelia, Cosmos and Snapdragons.

Red Pearl Millet, Thunbergia, Cosmos, Petunia and Zinnia.

 Zinnia in bloom.

 Snapdragon in bloom.

 Nothing leggy about these tomato plants.

Eggplants on left and three variety of peppers.

I need a miracle in order not to lose any of my plants. On the bright side, I am learning!

And, how can I forget our beautiful Bougainvillea! Only 4 leaves and rest is flowers.

Growing from Seeds Update, April 1st, 2011

I think that it is appropriate to post and update on my seedlings on April Fools Day. Some of the flowers were started way too early and in few days our sunroom will look like a garden center in May. Next week many of the plants will be transplanted to their final container or basket and other will be transplanted to bigger container where they wait till transferred into a flower bed. I don’t think that I have too many choices. I have to find out which seedlings I can nip and which I can’t touch.  I’ve already nipped Black Eyed Susan Vine trailers and some Snapdragon Lampion (Trailing) but I am not sure about Snapdragon Rocket which is a traditional straight plant. The packet says that it is grown as a cut flower so I am not sure.

On veggie front the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are nice and robust and grown under lights. They are right on target as far as time line is concerned.

Here are pictures of what starts to look like a jungle.

I almost forgot to mention that Zinnia and Snapdragon are blooming. Oh boy, am I ever in a trouble L

 Tomatoes and peppers, Petunia on left.

 Painted Tongue

 Petunia

 Tomatoes and peppers

 Lobelias, Cosmos (bottom left)

 Snapdragon Lampion. Notice the bloom at left.

 French Taragon (from last year)

 Red Millet (bottom) and Zinnia

Snapdragon in bloom.

Growing from Seeds Update March 23, 2011



Winter came back for few days!

Things are moving quite fast on our seedlings front.

The Lobelias were transplanted from cells into 3” pots; now we have 15 pots that could have been divided easily into 50 pots. My hand was a bit heavy when I spread the seeds, I guess. Lesson learned.

Cosmos have new home and doing very well and so do Petunias, Zinnia, Red Millet and Black Eyed Susan Vine. The Snapdragons slowed down in their growth for some reason but are healthy.

Snapdragons and Zinnias



Black Eyed Susan Vine, Red Millet and Cosmos

 I wrote about my little Snapdragon experiment before but I have to post an update. Few weeks ago I snipped the top of one plant to force it into branching. Instead of throwing the 3/8” long tip in the garbage I dipped it in growth hormone powder and planted it in a Jiffy Pot.  Last week I have notice roots growing through the pot sides. It penetrated the sock! I am sure that If I clip same plant and repeat the process I could grow hundreds of Snapdragons from one seed! Amazing, isn’t it?

Anyway, this plant will join its mother and rest of seedlings in a hanging basket.

Arugula and French Tarragon

Some tomatoes were also transplanted and so were some peppers and all eggplants. Things are looking good.

Crazy Spring Weather!

Even though we were expecting it because of weather forecast, it was still a bit of a shock! Yesterday, I was raking the lawn and this morning the same spot was covered by 4” of snow! What a bummer! On top of it, yesterday we went to golf course and talked to the owner and he was expecting to open in three days. Not very likely now, is it?
Following two pictures were shot only 16 hours apart.

  

Anyway, with all the trees and shrubs covered in wet snow I got a chance to take some nice flash pictures in the dark. They came out OK, I think. You’ll be the judge.

This was taken at 6:30 AM with manual flash and all manual settings on camera. The point of light at top of Norway Fir is street light. A the top is almost full moon partially covered by low clouds.

I shot this frame on monochrome setting. You can see reflection of flash in neighbor's window. Easy to fix in Photoshop.

Snow is a good sculptor. There are two faces at bottom right and what looks like Homer Simpson at top, fifth plank from left.
I am going to have fun with this camera!

Garden and Regular Crazy Spring Weather

Yesterday it was such a nice day to work in the garden. Nice sunny day and it was warm, 17 °C.

 I even went shopping for mulch in my shorts and short sleeve shirt. Then it turned cold and extremely windy. So windy that my BBQ plans got trashed. Still, it was nice to have a preview of things to come. It is amazing how fast some plants react to warmer weather. There is one nice plant that is all light yellow green, including the flower, that Marjo calls Helleborus Lenten Rose.  It is now in a full bloom!

Also, I have planted garlic bulbils that I have discovered in paper bag, sprouting. I gave them a soak of water overnight and hope to have some garlic shoots in few weeks, 2 months maximum. Next to bulbils I have planted red-green scallions. Interesting plant: it is a green onion that has a red bulb and rest is green. I had it last year and it tastes just like regular green onion but is more attractive.

Marjo is very happy that all Heuchera plants survived the winter and rabbit attacks. Last year the rabbits decimated the flowers. They just cut them and left them on ground. We need some foxes around here.

Now I have to turn my attention to lawn. We started raking the thatch this afternoon but it was too cold to finish the job. Maybe Monday. Then I have to get it rolled because it is so bumpy, again. Never ending job that lawn is!

And, what would middle of March be without American Robins attacking our sun room door and windows. They are so persistent and it looks like most of our neighbors have the same problem. There is no point in washing the windows and doors during Spring Cleanup until robins are nesting. It is amazing how high they jump and leave marks with their feet and wings.

Spring is here, no question about it!

Growing from Seeds Update March 16, 2011

Spring is almost here, judging by arrival of American Robins, Grackles and Turkey Vultures and hundreds of Tundra Swans going south.

Our seedlings are doing really well. Soon, I will transplant Zinnias, Cosmos, Lobelias, Petunias and Pearl Purple Millet from cells to larger individual containers where they stay till transplanted permanently into containers or ground. Also, 2 days ago I came across French Tarragon that I have overwintered in our unheated garage and it was looking all dried up. I removed all dead growth all the way to soil level and put it in a bucket of water. Next morning I couldn’t believe how fast it woke up and how much it grew in just few hours!

My tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are also doing well. They all had excellent germination rate. Tomorrow I will move my bonsai Juniper from cold frame into a pot and in its place I will plant snow peas and sugar snap peas and see what will happen. Last year I have planted them way too late.

Outside in garden the crocuses are about 1” high and so are tulips. Yup, Spring is here now, not almost!

Bougainvillea is back to its old tricks.

After we have cut back the plant into bonsai shape and size and before we have repotted it, our Bougainvillea went through very predictable cycles beginning with having only leaves followed by losing some leaves and starting to flower. Then it would loose all the leaves, this scared us first time it happened, and open hundreds of pinkish red flowers. It would be in flower for a very long time. Gradually the plant will start loosing flowers and small pale green leaves start appearing. Eventually the leaves will displace all the flowers and Bougainvillea will become a regular tree. Shortly after the cycle starts all over again. After re-potting it has changed the usual cycle completely, it had a large leaves and flowers all at the same time and for a long period of time. Then about a week ago it started to revert back to regular cycles. Right now it has lost almost all the leaves and started to grow lots of flowers. The leaves fell very quickly, it took only 3 days. I have read somewhere that they are in full bloom around spring and fall Equinox, and this is our experience as well. However, I think that it will not be in full bloom for another 2 weeks or so.

It is a very interesting plant with unusual cycle. I will update every major change.

Right now, there are dozens of these small flower clusters.